LATIN AMERICAN THEATRE REVIEW

Transcription

1 LATIN AMERICAN THEATRE REVIEW a Journal devoted to the Theatre and Drama of Spanish and Portuguese America William R Michael L. Editorial Assistant Deborah J. Cohen José Juan Arrom Joan R. Boorman Pedro Bravo-Elizondo Susana Castillo Sandra M. Cypess Frank N. Dauster Publisher Center of Latin American Studies The University of Kansas Charles L. Stansifer, Director Editor George W. Woodyard Associate Editor John S. Brushwood Assistant Editors Blue Raymond D. Souza Doudoroff Jon S. Vincent Editorial Board Merlin H. Forster Támara Holzapfel Nicolás Kanellos Alyce de Kuehne Fredric M. Litto Book Review Editor Kirsten F. Nigro Gerardo Luzuriaga Leon F. Lyday Kirsten F. Nigro William I. Oliver Margaret S. Peden L. Howard Quackenbush Production Hall Center for the Humanities The University of Kansas Theodore A. Wilson, Director The Review is published semi-annually, fall and spring, by the Center of Latin American Studies of the University of Kansas. The views expressed by contributors to the Latin American Theatre Review do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Center or its editorial staff. Manuscripts (original copy only) may be submitted in English, Spanish, or Portuguese, and must conform to the MLA Style Sheet. All manuscripts and reviews should be sent to Prof. George Woodyard, Spanish & Portuguese, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, along with a self-addressed envelope, return postage attached. Where possible, manuscripts accepted for publication are requested on diskette labeled by program and title (Word Perfect preferred). Scholars may, without prior permission, quote from the Review to document their own work, but it is their responsibility to make proper acknowledgment and to limit quotation to what is legitimately needed. This waiver does not extend to the quotation of substantial parts of the articles or to a quotation presented as primary material for its own sake. Requests for permission to reprint all or substantial parts of articles should be made to the publisher. A statement of permission from the author should accompany such requests. Subscription information: Individuals, $15.00 per year. Institutions, $30.00 per year. Most back issues available; write for price list. Please direct all business correspondence to: Latin American Theatre Review, The Center of Latin American Studies, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas

2 LATIN AMERICAN. THEATRE 22/1 REVIEW FALL 1988 Contents L05 hijos del terremoto: Imágenes de un recuerdo Frank Dauster 5 Borges, Averroes y la imposibilidad del teatro Han Stavans 13 La resistencia cultural en El toro por las astas de Radrigán Lidia Neghme Echeverría 23 Correspondencias estructurales y semánticas entre El gesticulador y Corona de sombra Laura Rosana Scarano 29 Cristóbal de Llerena and His Satiric Entremés Julie Greer Johnson 39 Hiperteatralidade e releitura histórica: O Teatro de Márcio Souza Heliane Kohler-Rodrigues 47 Armando Discépolo: Entre el grotesco italiano y el grotesco criollo Osvaldo Pellettierí 55 Con Eduardo Pavlosvsky, cinco años después Miguel Ángel Giella 73 Interview with Dolores Prida Luz María Umpierre 81 El Teatro Experimental La Mama en la dramaturgia nacional Eddy Armando 87 COPYRIGHT 1988 BY THE CENTER OF LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS, LAWRENCE, KANSAS 66045, U.SA.

3 2 LATIN AMERICAN THEATRE REVIEW El Odin Teatret y Latinoamérica Fernando de Toro 91 Otra vez el Festival de las Américas en Montreal Fernando de Toro 99 II Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro de Cádiz Concepción Reverte Bernal 105 Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro (Cali) Orlando Cajamarca Castro 117 iarriba el telón! III Festival de Teatro Hispano en Miami Eduardo Márceles Daconte 123 Plays in Performance 129 Book Reviews 137 Publications Received 145

4 FALL Abstracts "Los hijos del terremoto: imágenes de un recuerdo" The temptation to search for influences or a logical content which can be paraphrased forgets that each writer works from his obsessions and memories. Osvaldo Dragún is especially subject to this kind of reading, given the political thrust of his theatre and its similarities to Brecht and the saínete orillero, and critics tend to ignore the extreme theatricality of his works. Hijos del terremoto typifies the problem: rather than a logical development of a theme it is a series of images reflecting memories in the protagonist's psyche. The play uses intertextuality, irreal staging and flexible time levels as the protagonist attempts to come to terms with his life, his family, and the political situation. Inspired by Dragun's return to Buenos Aires after a long absence, he has called it a letter to himself. Clearly, it springs from the most personal autobiographical level and criticism must take this fact into account. (In Spanish) (FND) "Borges, Averroes y la imposibilidad del teatro" While Borges showed great interest in cinema in his life, his ties to the theatre are practically nonexistent. The exception is his story "La busca de Averroes," in which the concepts of "culture" and "theatre" interact. Borges creates a fantastic setting (Córdoba, c. 1183) where an historic character (Averroes) must decipher the Aristotelian terms "comedy" and "tragedy." This becomes impossible for him to accomplish because the idea of "theatre" as it existed in the classical world is alien to the Moslem commentator. This article analyzes the secret teleological and philosophical messages in this story, and reflects on the understanding of the scenographic which is not developed by Borges anywhere else. From Averroes* blindness to the theatrical arts, Borges deduces that we all live on a great Calderonian stage, and that we lack the cognitive instruments necessary to know where our own representations begin and end. (In Spanish) (IS.DJC) "La resistencia cultural en El toro por las astas de Radrigán" This analysis of El toro por las astas studies Chilean problems (allusion to the "state of siege," popular language, the misery of the people), together with that of alienation. Radrigán's marginados need the arrival of the Milagrero, who according to popular belief, can work miracles. This character's death provokes a change for all the characters: Antonio, the brothel employee, goes off to war; the others act as though they have been re-educated by the dictatorship and continue their selfalienation. Radrigán's theatre constitutes a type of judgement of Chilean reality during the dictatorship. Resistance should be a disturbing factor to reach the audience, which can recognize itself in the world of the play. (In Spanish) (LNE:DJC)

5 4 LATIN AMERICAN THEATRE REVIEW "Correspondencias estructurales y semánticas entre El gesticulador y Corona de sombra 9 There is, in the work of Rodolfo Usigli, a noticeable cohesion and unity which will be highlighted in this analysis of the structural and semantic correspondences between El gesticulador and Corona de sombra. This comparative approach sheds light on the author's integral vision of the dramatic text and its historical and ideological sources as much from a structural point of view as from the total meaning of the work. In the former, we examine the temporal and spatial unfolding of the plot, and the development of characters and of the conflict itself; in the latter, the concept of history and the poetic process, the reflection on Mexican political events, the conflict between the double identity and the search for authenticity, the metatheatrical plane, and the use of several key symbols. (In Spanish) (LRS: DJC) "Cristóbal de lierena and His Satiric Entremés* Cristóbal de Llerena's short dramatic sketch, performed at Santo Domingo's 1588 Corpus Christi celebration, is one of the first completely secular plays composed by a Spanish American. Although this entremés is noted for its combination of Classical characters and traditional comic types with aspects of New World reality and for its demonstration of increased secular influence on the writing of dramatic works in the Indies, it is the work's critical purpose, designed to indict the colony's administration, which distinguishes it in the history of colonial letters. Llerena's interlude is a good example of the pre-quevedan grotesque, which appropriately conveys the startling issues he raises, and it is representative as well of an intermediate step between the early pasquines and the complete satires written before the end of the sixteenth century. (JGJ) "Hiperteatralidade e releitura histórica: O teatro de Márcio Sousa" In As Folias de Látex, Márcio Sousa proposes a critical rereading of an historical period (the rubber-based economic cycle which ran from the end of the nineteenth century to the end of World War I). In the guise of a parodie fable, he presents significant scenes from the political and social life of the Amazon, making use of vaudevillian techniques and cinematic representations of supposedly factual information. Structured much as a music hall number, the play is in fact a "show" whose aim is to stage a theatrical parody, the target of which is the Amazonian bourgeoisie of the "Belle Epoque." If the circus elements infuse duality, the elements of carnival reinforce the semantic ambivalence of a "metavaudeville" in which historical references encourage the public to reflect critically on the resemblance to the Amazon of that period. (In Portuguese) (MKR: DJC) "Armando Discépolo: Entre el grotesco italiano y el grotesco criollo" Much has been written about the intertextuality between the Italian grotesque and the criollo grotesque. The purpose of this essay is to show and contrast both the relationship and the differences between these types of the grotesque by comparing two texts by Armando Discépolo: Muñeca (two acts, 1924) and Stefano (grotesque in one act and an epilogue, 1928). The first play has a marked Pirandellian intertextuality, while the second is more clearly a model of the grotesco criollo. Muñeca proves that Discépolo knew the form of the Italian grottesco well, and consciously wished to include it in this text. On the other hand, comparing this play with Stefano on the level of the plot and action, as well as on the semantic level, demonstrates that these are two distinct texts. It also shows that the author was conscious that he was creating a new genre, undoubtedly derivative of the saínete criollo. (In Spanish) (OP:DJC)